The Latest: 2 spacemen headed home after year aloft

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the return of NASA’s Scott Kelly and Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko from a year in space (all times EST):

10:32 p.m.

Astronaut Scott Kelly is streaking back to Earth to end an unprecedented yearlong mission in space for NASA.

Kelly and his Russian roommate for the past year, Mikhail Kornienko, checked out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night, U.S. time. Their Soyuz capsule undocked from the orbiting lab, then with an engine firing, began the hourlong descent. The men aimed for a touchdown Wednesday in Kazakhstan.

Kelly and Kornienko have spent 340 consecutive days in space. By the time the Soyuz lands, the pair will have circled the world 5,440 times.

Russia continues to rule, however, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight with the world record of 438 days.

Scientists are hoping for more one-year subjects as NASA looks ahead to Mars trips.

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8:02 p.m.

Astronaut Scott Kelly is on his way back to Earth to end an unprecedented yearlong mission in space for NASA.

Kelly and his Russian roommate for the past year, Mikhail Kornienko, checked out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night, U.S. time. Their Soyuz capsule undocked from the orbiting lab and aimed for a touchdown 3½ hours later — on Wednesday — in Kazakhstan

Kelly and Kornienko have spent 340 consecutive days in space. By the time the Soyuz lands, the pair will have circled the world 5,440 times.

Russia continues to rule, however, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight with the world record of 438 days.

Scientists are hoping for more one-year subjects as NASA looks ahead to Mars trips.

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12:19 p.m.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is closing the door on a space mission that has spanned a U.S.-record 340 days.

Kelly and his roommate for nearly a year, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, check out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night, U.S. time. By the time their Russian capsule lands in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the pair will have circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets. Their mileage: 144 million miles. Says Kelly, “We did it!”

Kelly’s closest U.S. contender trails him by 125 days. Russia continues to rule, however, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight. The world record of 438 days was set by a Russian doctor during the 1990s.

Scientists are hoping for more one-year subjects as NASA looks ahead to Mars trips.